His Daughter, Anna
by BuzzCat
Summary: A sort of companion to my story 'His, Hers, Ours: A Story of Love', but can be read on its own. Rumpelstiltskin's daughter comes running after a nightmare and he reflects on life and sings his baby girl a lulluby. Rumbelle, although not an incredible amount.


**A/N: A short companion piece to my story 'His, Hers, Ours: A Story of Love' but can be read on its own. Pretty depressing, just to warn you. Daddy!Rumpelstiltskin, so it has that going for it. Enjoy!**

Rumpelstiltskin sat in bed reading. It was a quiet night, the kind he found so rarely. Anna was safely in bed and asleep; no one had come calling today. Indeed, everything had gone perfectly. Unfortunately. It was times like these, when nothing was pressing in his mind, that he recalled his Belle. Belle, who had died shortly after their daughter's first birthday. She'd be dead six years this Friday.

Rumpelstiltskin sighed and closed his book, removing the reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose. Time had passed so fast. Each day individually seemed to drag on, but years flew by in moments. His Anna was nearly seven. In the old world, she'd already be getting noticed and undoubtedly he would have been forced to promise her away. His lovely little daughter had grown up so fast. It seemed like she was still playing princess and having tea parties yesterday (he had tried to discourage these but to no avail). Now she was well on her way to leaving behind dear old dad, becoming the woman her mother would have wanted her to be. Rumpelstiltskin was proud of his daughter, he really was. He just wished she hadn't grown so old so fast.

Just then, the door to his bedroom burst open and a girl with wild hair and golden eyes came running across the room. She jumped onto the bed and immediately found her father's side, burying her face in his chest. His arm fell around her shoulders as he held her close,

"What happened? Was it a nightmare?" The last question elicited a small nod from the girl as she still clutched his nightshirt in her hands and shuddering gasps shook her body. Rumpelstiltskin sat back. Anna had been having nightmare after nightmare lately. Nightmares about real things she couldn't have seen. It was his magic in her, he knew it. It only made sense for the Dark One's child to possess some kind of magic. He hadn't told her yet, or even taught her much about it. As he watched his little girl shake, he knew that had been a mistake. It was turning on her, coming out in random bursts of Sight or in other small ways. Still, there was no time to explain it all now.

"What happened in the nightmare?" he asked, softly stroking her hair. Normally Anna would have stalled his hand and proclaimed how she wasn't a baby, but tonight she leaned into his touch.

"It was you, but it must have been the old world." She said in a small voice. Rumpelstiltskin felt the air whoosh out of him. The thing that had his strong daughter dissolving into tears was…him? She didn't notice him stiffen and continued, "You were spinning at a wheel, and a pretty woman came over and started talking to you. She mentioned you having a son, I think. She kissed you, and you became human and she was happy. But you," she looked up at him through frightened eyes and he felt spikes shoot through his heart, "you were angry. You yelled at a mirror and at the woman. You shook her and she was scared, almost crying. You carried her down and locked her in a dungeon." Anna looked up at him, but he refused to meet Anna's eye.

"What then?" he whispered. Anna looked down and tried to burrow into his side.

"She cried. And then later, you kicked her out and lied to her."

"Lied about what?"

"That your power meant more to you than she did. But it wasn't true, was it, Dad?" she asked. He could hear the desperate hope in her voice and he held her closer and wrapped both his arms around his baby girl.

"Of course it wasn't, Anna. Dad lied." He said. Anna nodded at that. They sat in silence for a moment while he held her and she clutched him, then Anna looked up at him,

"It's real, isn't it? All my dreams?" It was more of a statement than a question. Rumpelstiltskin sighed. What could he tell his baby girl? She'd already been made to grow up too fast by her mother's death and some of her dreams. Could he really answer this honestly?

"Yes." He said, "It's all real. That woman was your mom."

"My mom? That was…her?" she asked the question quietly.

"Yes." He whispered. Anna snuggled in again, no doubt reflecting on how her monster of a father had treated her mother.

"I have her nose, don't I?" she asked softly. Rumpelstiltskin have a short laugh,

"Yes you do. And your kindness and creativity and love of books… Gods, you get pretty much everything from her." He said. Anna laughed,

"Was she nice?"

"The nicest."

"Pretty?" she asked. At this, Rumpelstiltskin looked down at her as though he questioned her sanity.

"Did you see her? Your mother was gorgeous, and the word didn't do her justice." He said. Anna was startled to hear something so…sappy come out of her father's mouth. Still, she liked. She closed her eyes and smiled,

"Dad, will you sing me that song? The one you sang me when I was really little?" Rumpelstiltskin smiled and nodded. He cleared his throat and sang in his rich voice,

"_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry;_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."_

He repeated the song over and over again, thinking on that first night Belle had come to his door with Anna. His poor Belle had died almost two months later, a week after their wedding. She'd been standing on the rail of their ship and lost her balance. Rumpelstiltskin had been in the cabin reading, looking up only in time to see her delicate feet disappear over the edge. He'd Appeared by the rail and leaned down to grab her dress, his fingers grasping only a scrap fabric that tore immediately. He'd tried to rescue her, exhausted every magical and nonmagical way possible. Rumpelstiltskin never found her. He'd returned home immediately from his ill-fated honeymoon. They'd held a memorial service for Belle soon after. A few had whispered that he'd had a hand in his wife's death, but those whispers were soon silenced when they saw the ultimate suffering that ripped through him. No one could fake that pain. In those days, he'd been so sad for so long; Rumpelstiltskin knew for sure he would not have lived if it hadn't been for their little Anna. And now she lay by his side, curled into him and fast asleep. He hugged her tighter and Anna smiled in her sleep.

"Love you daddy." She murmured to his side. He leaned down and kissed her forehead,

"And I love you."


End file.
